Awaiting recognition

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As dusk settles over the Circle of Orange, more than 50 Vietnam War veterans salute the Stars and Stripes as the flag slowly descends a towering white pole.

It's the same scene every Wednesday night and one I wrote about a few years ago. But this night is extra special. The veterans who served in modern America's most controversial war share mementos and memories in anticipation of what they consider a long-awaited victory – an official day recognizing their service.

But like many things to do with the Vietnam War, their victory is messy. Last year, President Barack Obama declared March 29 “Vietnam Veterans Day.” But only for one year.

The day came and went before most knew.

And in California, March 30, Saturday, we officially have “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day” – so long as the governor signs a proclamation every year.

If decision-makers heard just a snippet of the outpouring I hear when I talk to Vietnam vets, things would be different.

Let's hope.

Jan Moorehead was born too early for what she wanted to do – serve her country as her father had done during World War II. So in 1966 at age 21, she headed to Vietnam as a Red Cross nurse.

Like other women before her, she was called a Donut Dolly but not in a mean-spirited way. At the ceremony this week, her name is announced along with the men who fought in combat. And when master of ceremony, Mark Wayland, reports Moorehead served nearly four years in Vietnam, 150 people applaud in appreciation.

Moorehead tells me what it was like to be in Vietnam while tens of thousands of Americans were wounded and killed. A room in the Saigon offices of the USO, a nonprofit that serves troops, was filled with men hoping to call family. While they waited their turn, they watched television images of hundreds of thousands of demonstrators chanting anti-war slogans.

“I'll never forget it,” Moorehead says, her voice halting at the memory of the waiting soldiers. “There were tears in their eyes.”

Moorehead went on to become a probation officer in Orange County and later a parole agent. To this day, she can't figure out why Vietnam veterans were treated so poorly.

She says the reason the veterans work for a day of recognition “is to make sure no other generation who serves is forgotten.”

Greg Gillaspy's daughter learned her father served in Vietnam when she was 18 years old. She heard it from her boyfriend.

Gillaspy, a retired Yorba Linda resident, explains he was so upset over the way he was treated when he returned to California after serving aboard the USS Ticonderoga that he completely shut out the war. When veterans were invited to stand and be honored at sporting events, he sat.

That changed four years ago when he saw a gathering of vets at a swap meet. “I was totally shocked they were accepted.”

We discuss the recent rise in Vietnam veteran suicides. “A lot of these guys are suffering – flashbacks, nightmares.”

Gillaspy says, “Recognition by the public is the first step toward healing.”

Jim Torres, commander of a local chapter of Disabled American Veterans, manned a .50-caliber machine gun in Cambodia. He returned to the United States after earning two bronze stars. But he didn't bother to get the medals until a decade ago when he decided to put together a shadow box for his son.

“Because of the reception we got, the negative talk,” Torres explains, “I just buried it for 30 years.”

As two lines of veterans gather to fold the flag, Marine Cpl. Garrett Strudivant and I start talking. But taps is played and we fall silent, my hand over my heart, Strudivant's in salute.

Later, I ask why a 21-year-old active duty Marine would come to the Circle of Orange. “Because they are my family,” Strudivant says. “I want to be here for them.

“It's our job to remind them that they are part of our community and honor what they've done to keep our nation strong.”

I talk to veteran after veteran about healing and honor. On Thursday, the conversations continue as word gets around about the column I'm working on. My ringing phone reveals passions long kept quiet.

Manuel Alvarez was an Army draftee. Like many of his brothers in arms, the Santa Ana resident struggled with drugs in Vietnam. When he came home, he struggled to find help.

Jim Prather, who served as a Marine in Vietnam, admits he checked out of anything to do with Vietnam for four decades. Now, he has designed a flag to honor veterans of all wars as well as their families.

The sad thing is that almost all the vets I talk to think today, March 29, is their day.

But somehow our country has complicated the seemingly simple thing of honoring those who were willing to give their all in service to country.

A little history:

First, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and then Gov. Jerry Brown approved March 30 as the state's official day to honor Vietnam vets.

Obama followed last year, announcing March 29 as the day the country recognizes the men and women who served.

But each declaration is only good for that year, or so it appears on official documents.

To sort out the confusion, I contact Rep. Loretta Sanchez's office. I'm told no one can answer before deadline.

Sen. Barbara Boxer has been a force in calling for a national day of recognition so I contact her office. I'm told they'll scramble but never hear back.

Rep. Linda Sanchez, too, has lobbied for such a day. Her office confirms the honorary day must be re-designated every year.

This year? No federal proclamation – yet.

What about California's day? The governor's office tells me they need to check and will call back. Late Thursday night I'm promised Brown will issue a proclamation.

We know bureaucracy is slow. Yet in less than a decade, we sent hundreds of thousands of troops to Vietnam and lost more than 58,000 American lives.

Our elected leaders have had enough time to sort this out. The last of our combat troops left Vietnam 40 years ago today.

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